Happy Friday! This week I’ve had some interesting customer service experiences, I’m a little cranky, I explore my “WHY” a little more and I’m grateful for some things (but not bubbling over grateful because I’m a little cranky).

Customer Service… NOT!Two years ago my wonderful wife gave me a Kobo Arc for Christmas. I used it almost every day. It’s a great way to read, it’s easy to carry, I set it up so I can write notes on it, it’s is an amazingly functional piece of electronics. Small, light, very portable, long battery life and so much more. I like it very much.It broke just before Christmas. The socket you plug the charger into broke free from the connecting ribbon. It’s a small piece and the way it was fastened down was very poorly engineered. The result… my wonderful Kobo Arc is now a very expensive paperweight.I contacted Kobo customer service by email and telephone. Contacting them was frustrating because you fill in a form online and get an incident number. Once you have the incident number you have to call customer service. The people were very polite they didn’t, can’t and won’t help me get my Kobo fixed. I contacted them by email and telephone. It was a one sided conversation – I begged for help and they said;“It’s not under warranty. We can’t help you.”“We are not a repair facility. We don’t repair our products. Perhaps you can find someone in Canada who will fix it for you. Maybe a computer shop or cell phone repair shop. We can’t recommend any particular shop. ” “We can’t help you get the part you need. We don’t supply parts.” The part I need is 6201USB-R005. Here is a picture of it. I did some research and learned that an induction charger would eliminate the whole problem. I contacted Kobo customer service again by filling in a form and getting an incident number so I could call them. I asked them what induction charger they would recommend or would even work. Another one sided conversation;“We don’t know which induction charger would work best. We can’t recommend any induction charger. We never thought of testing induction chargers. We don’t know which induction charger would work. I only heard of induction chargers last week. I’m sorry we can’t help.”Then to add insult to injury I get an email from Kobo saying they were glad they could help me with my problem and were pleased that I was satisfied. I replied that they had given me no help and that I was very unsatisfied. I got another answer back saying that if I was still having problems and contacted them with the same incident number they would look into it further. What Bullshit! A company creates a wonderful product with a design flaw and won’t help fix it.I dug into this even further. There are thousands of people all over the world looking for the same part for their Kobo Arcs. I found a Facebook page with almost 1000 followers asking the same question “Where can I get this part?”Kobo – get a grip. A great product in theory is a rip off because you won’t help existing customers.Kobo- This is not “Customer Service”. Being polite doesn’t solve the problem. Here is a solution - You buy the parts to build Kobo products and that means you know where to get them. Why not tell us where we can get the part or sell us the part yourself? I’ve contacted two induction charger manufacturers and given the specs of the battery used in the Kobo Arc. I’m waiting to hear back from them. I’ll let you know what happens.

I’m a Little CrankyI’m a fairly positive thinking guy but for some reason today, I’m a little cranky. What does that look like? I’m hitting the keys on my keyboard harder than normal. I’m a little twitchy and having trouble sitting still. I’m frustrated because some stories I’m writing aren’t flowing easily. If my wonderful wife was home I would probably snap at her for no reason. My productivity is off. I’m fed up with the cold and the wind (one of the reasons I’m moving to Victoria, BC). Writing about my Kobo Arc just made me a little crankier. What do you do when you feel like this?I’ve got a couple of things I do. I often take my Kobo and head out to a coffee shop and sit with people (and my Kobo isn’t working). Just being around people who are smiling and laughing makes me feel better. I treat someone nice by helping them somehow or holding the door or even just chatting with them. I put some money in one of the many donation boxes in a coffee shop or store when I leave. When I commit a RAK it helps me feel better.

My “WHY”In an earlier posting I mentioned that I have a “WHY” for doing the things I do in life. When I get off track from working on a project or goal I go back to my “WHY”. Why am I doing the things I do?Why am I writing?Why am I making sales calls?Why am I telling people about Send Out Cards? (www.sendoutcards.com/danwrites)One of my big “WHYS” is being able to enjoy life more. When I think about it that is a pretty big statement. Enjoying life more; for me, means having the time to enjoy some of the small things in life such as reading a good book, a nice glass of wine, a cold beer, a good cup of coffee, talking with my wonderful wife and having the time to think.I have many big things that I look forward to such as, getting out of debt, moving to BC, golfing, going on a trip to somewhere sunny and warm, helping people succeed in their Send Out Cards business and supporting some charities that mean something to me. When I think about those things I get motivated to do something, but when I think of the small things I get driven to push a little harder and get more focussed.I feel sad for the people who don’t have a “WHY” of their own. People who are going through the motions to make someone else happy or because they feel stuck and don’t know why they do what they do. I’ve been there and worked hard to understand what gets me out of bed in the morning and work on the things I do. I encourage you to take some time and find out why you do what you do and what really gets you going. Once you know what you are working for you will find a way to get what you want. What is your “WHY”? What is your ideal life?

I am Grateful for…I have so much to be grateful for. I’ve found that by expressing my gratitude I find even more reasons to be grateful.I’m very thankful that the days are getting longer. A few more minutes of daylight every day lifts my spirits and means winter is almost over.I’m thankful that a number of my sales customers have re-ordered.I’m thankful that my 31Day Gratitude Commitment/Challenge is going well. A new person comes to mind every day, and some days more than one.Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, and to work, and to play and to look up at the stars. Henry Van DykeAs each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. Adabella Radici'Thank you power' is writing down the moments that are good in your life so that you can go back and reflect on them - so you've got this sort of repository of good stuff in your past. Deborah NorvilleYou can be cranky or you can be thankful but you can’t be both at the same time. People like you better when you’re thankful. Dan Beresford

And in closing… I’m grateful for the time you take to read my blog. You may be here because someone shared this with you. You may have found it on your own. You may see it because we’re connected on Facebook or Twitter. I may not know you. I don’t know when you read my blog. I don’t know how it makes you feel. I am just grateful that you read it. Please feel free to comment or not; share or not; ignore or not, it’s up to you to what you do.With a grateful heart, Dan

There is no need to panic, Dan, or to fear that you are becoming paranoid. Be calm and see things reasonably. A Kobo that breaks is obviously a terrorist plant, designed to break the morale of sensible western non-Muslims. If the sane Westerners can be reduced to babbling idiots and sidelined, the fanatics can conscript and convert the feeble-minded and confused. You are playing into their hands by obsessing so.

By contacting them, they can trace it back to WHERE YOU LIVE. The solution is a simple life change: Just move discreetly, tonight, probably to another province or country, and take on a new identity. I would switch brands from Kobo too, just in case they are looking for you and have "sleepers" waiting to spring into action as soon as they get your address. There is no need for paranoia or concern.

So you need a counter-attack plan to preserve your honour or your life, whichever is more precious:
Fight Kobo with CHARLIE HEBDO cartoons.

The foregoing are the ones on Huffington Post that caused the upset with the Muslims who took offence. Just sign your lampoons as "Charlie" while making your points in mocked jest. Or do some that will irritate the Islamist fanatic and sign it "KOBO". Let your adversaries hate each other to your advantage.

Before Kobo, you had no potential to incur upon yourself "Kobo stress". Return to the simple times of when you used books that could be repaired with Scotch Tape. We only know what we think we know now. Of course we tend to think we know everything. Who knows if there won't be some discovery that the brain is damaged by reading long periods on the new technology! Kobo could be hard on your vision, like all electronics.Perhaps it has already happened to the people who work at and for Kobo: perhaps they can't see their weaknesses and errors or what is a better way of dealing with complaints and inquiries; perhaps they cannot see clearly what part you mean or that there even is a part, let alone where to find it amidst the clutter that accumulates around those who cannot see it!

To pose a little devil's advocate balance to the more dire possibilities for what you have experienced: Perhaps the instructions you want are on a Kobo there that needs one of the parts they don't realize that they have used in having the device made. If the part was to be durable and to last "forever", why would you expect them to make extra of it? To produce such spares would be to belie the sincerity of their confidence in their product! Why would you expect an engineer to clutter-up the schematics with inclusion of illustrations of parts that would never have to be sought out??? Remember that KISS is often a part of production now-a-days.

Finally, Dan, perhaps the text you were reading is subliminal and has YOU convinced that the part tactiley EXISTS when it does not, or is broken when it is not, or has blinded you to recognizing that you are doing something wrong in your hook-up. However, such ease they have of gaining control over your mind is not reason to panic or become paranoid. Just Go with the flow and prove that you can be more and better crazy than your new handlers are.

Yours is by far the best & if you ever get the solution, I'd love to know.

Reply

Ken Kemp

2/15/2015 06:00:49 pm

This can be fixed! There is no replacement ribbon cable, but I can put a new USB port in for you. I live in the Toronto area, if anyone wants to mail theirs to me, I would be happy to fix it.

Ken Kemp
kennethrobertkemp@yahoo.ca

Reply

Laurie & John Amaral

3/24/2015 01:08:43 pm

SAME KOBO PROBLEM!!!! grrr
Live in London. Taken in & made many calls over the past year. COME ON PEOPLE....not rocket science :D I have 2 of these broken bad boys because of a garbage design in a .50 cent usb ribbon made in China no doubt!
ANYONE know in London, online.....EXACTLY where to BUY or have DELIVERED this very troublesome piece of poor technology???
I want my Kobo :(

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cristina

6/10/2015 07:54:19 am

I'm desperate too for the same Kobo Arc problem ! My wonderful table is dead and nobody help me. when I called the customer service I chat with a Canadian guy who was very polite, but nothing else. My problem is still open. I would love if anybody of you will keep me posted in case you find a solution to this very unpleasant issue! thank you very much indeed ! love from Italy :-)

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